Western Star Export is the planned offshore export transmission system for the Western Star floating offshore wind project located off the west coast of County Clare, Ireland. The export system will transmit electricity from the Western Star floating wind array (developer estimates for the wind f...
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On 31 May 2023, EDF Renewables Ireland and Simply Blue Group signed a partnership agreement to jointly develop the Western Star and Emerald floating offshore wind projects in Ireland. This partnership establishes a shared development structure for Western Star, under which the two companies will collaborate on progressing the 1.35 GW Western Star project off the west coast of Clare and its associated infrastructure through early development stages.
Arup carried out pre-FEED front-end engineering design studies for the Western Star project’s export-to-grid transmission system, analysing export design scenarios, assessing risks and mitigation, and developing the preferred scenario to provide the basis for procuring full FEED and estimating initial system costs.
For the Western Star floating offshore wind project’s grid connection, Arup compared electrical and structural design scenarios and then selected a preferred export-to-grid design option, including the choice of landfall location and export cable route, providing an engineered routing concept for transmitting power from the offshore site to the Irish mainland grid.
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Western Star export cable, Western Star Floating Wind export connection, Western Star offshore grid connection
Arup, working for Simply Blue Group on the Western Star Floating Offshore Wind project, completed a reconnaissance geophysical survey for the Western Star site, including the export-to-grid connection area. Ground engineers, supported by SAND Geophysics, specified and supervised the survey acquisition using unmanned surface vehicles, and later completed processing of the geophysical data to produce an updated ground model that will inform future, more targeted site investigation campaigns for the project’s offshore grid connection.
As part of early development for the Western Star offshore grid connection, Arup’s energy and electrical engineers analysed multiple export-to-grid design scenarios for Simply Blue Group’s 1.35 GW Western Star Floating Offshore Wind project and selected a preferred design scenario, including landfall location and export cable route. Arup then progressed pre-FEED design for this preferred export configuration to reduce risk, define the basis for procuring full FEED, and estimate initial system costs.
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